IBG YBG

Despite my last-minute posts (I'm making you look good, Sean DeLuca!), I finished the book about a month ago. In reflecting back on what stood out to me the most while I searched for my sixth post topic, it is, unfortunately the "I'll Be Gone, You'll Be Gone"philosophy outlined in the explanation of the mortgage meltdown and resulting financial crisis. That type of unabashed, criminal behavior is just galling. And, I do worry that it's more pervasive. For those of you who read The Price of Privilege, it's no surprise that teens who are growing up without a sense of self, but only a sense of performance, end up committed to nothing but winning.

Hence, another way the mission of this book comes back to our role as teachers. Although we have little influence in this arena, we must try to be as ethical as we can, and to demand it from our students. How big is the problem? Not sure. I think many teens are sneakier than ever--they lie easily and often. But I also know many who are idealistic, and are like the entrepreneurs in the book--they are eager to help the planet and make the world a better place. (I know some who are a little of both.) Let's hope there are more of the latter than the former!

Authentic Assessment

This past week I saw the most authentic assessment of CEW standards and critical thinking skills as the students put together a 4-page issue of the Hat Chat. I know that it's a special group of kids and they are willingly engaged in something they care about, but I was reminded once again that one of the keys to success in teaching is giving kids independence.

One thing I've learned over the years, and at conferences, is that the advisers who get the best results are the ones who do the least. We train the kids well, step back and let them own the process, make the decisions and problem-solve. I think this bears thinking about as we embark on a new year, and after four days of planning how to improve our instruction. I think there's been a trend in education that as the more things spin out of control (not making AYP, etc.), the more we try to control, and that translates as doing more work. We continue to work harder and harder than our students, and I contend that it's handicapping them.

That is one of the many reasons we struggle with critical thinking. Kids can't think critically when everything is spelled out for them. There is a great TED Talk about this for those who are interested--it's given by a young math teacher of the year. If you can't find it and want the link, let me know. I think it applies to all areas of teaching.

In-Service

When the school district first moved the in-service days to August, most teachers I talked to didn't like it. I always felt, however, that it made a lot sense. We were refreshed and planning for a new year anyway--I find that trying to rewrite curriculum and plan mid-year are disconcerting--there is too much to do on the plate. So, I typically look forward to those days (as much as I look forward to going back).

This past week was disheartening. Outside of the mention of critical thinking in the CEWs session, not much really moved us forward in any of the ways suggested in this book. And the morale is so low at this point, I highly doubt anyone is gearing up to assign more challenging reading and writing--the most important pieces of critical thinking skills we are losing. Instead, we will continue to devote more time to passing state assessments, and making sure we toe the line of the new state evaluation system.

Third Party Candidate

I read a post early in the process about the viability of a third party. It seemed then that most didn't think it would have an impact. I'm not necessarily convinced after reading the book, but am convinced by the fact that I just can't think of any other solution. We have reached the point of no return. The debacle over raising the debt ceiling last summer was the moment that I felt we really can no longer work together. The only things that would bring us together would be another attack on our country, which isn't terribly likely. As Thomas Friedman has written before: 9/11 was our moment to come together, and we failed.

So....can we get a serious independent (or new party) candidate? With over 40% of Americans now registered independent, I think it's a time. I don't know if it will work, but my goodness, we have to do something.

Hope Springs!

Let me start by thanking each and every one of you for your insight and your perserverance.  Your comments have inspired , encouraged and made me think about what a tough job we have.  Like you, I have spent the last 2 days in our inservice and I am amazed that we are still standing!  What a 2 days it has been.  We went from a noisy group entering the auditorium on Monday, to a weary looking bunch at the end of the day today.  And, this is day 2!  Each day we have been told what is expected of us, howe we will be evaluated, what "new" documents we are to provide to demonstrate that our students are learning. . .and the list goes on.  We have had little time to collaborate with our colleagues and more importantly, get into our classrooms and have time to take a breath, and consider the students who will be before us on Tuesday.  Yet, each and everyone of you, will be ready on Tuesday to greet our students and talk about the great year of learning they can expect.   How do you do it?

I tried to get Thomas Friedman to join our blog;  sadly he never did.  I wanted him to read the insightful comments you made about what actually goes on in our classrooms.  As depressing as this book was to read at times, I was heartened by all of you--you represent all that is good in public education.  Thanks again for your contributions.

I plan to keep the blog open so you can "catch up" should you need to do so.

Mary Ellen

Shockingly, I am posting late on the last day possible. . .

The one idea that always fills me both with hope and dread is that “of all the variables under a school’s control, the single most decisive factor in student achievement is excellent teaching.” This quote, which I’ve seen before, is in the section on teachers and principals. I believe this quote to be true, and yet when I see our PSSA scores jump and crash as they do, when most of us are teaching the same classes but to different students, I have my doubts. How can what I do work so well one year and then fail so miserably they next? I know I am tweaking things each year, but not so much as to contribute to such fluctuations. Yes, the students are different each time, but that is the way the game is played and I’ll have to learn to play it better, especially with more and more emphasis being placed on test results.

The good news is that with each new school year we do get the chance to start again. I know of few jobs that have the “do over” aspect that a new school year has for teachers. Sport is the only other thing that comes to mind. If you or your team has a bad year you can rededicate yourself to the cause, try to identify your weaknesses and, if possible, eliminate them. You start the next season 0-0, with a clean batting average, and just as much a chance to win as anybody. That optimism, the hope that fans and players alike share in the pre-season of each year, is the same I feel at this time of year. Some of you have been doing this longer than I have and many of you are more secure in what you do. I’ve always known that I have real room for improvement - just look how this is being completed in the last hours of the last day for submission. Unfortunately for me, that’s typical.

So now we are here at the start – the chance to make it better, to make it perfect, to raise the good to the great, to squash the comfort of “average” and to make the difference in our kids lives. We will do it by what we help them know and by what we make them feel.

This quote reminded me of one of my favorite quotes that I had taped to my desk in the first school that I taught and always try to remember.

“I've come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It's my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child's life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or de-humanized.”

Dr. Haim Ginott

This quote helps me keep things in perspective. I know on any given day the most important thing we can teach may have nothing to do with English. It may just boost someone’s confidence to make them feel better about school or learning in general – to decide to give a bit more effort or to relax just a bit when they are unraveling under stress.

Here’s to a year where the students want to learn, the teachers are inspired and our country finds itself closer to realizing its potential.

Creative Creators or Routine Servers

As we get closer to having the students return I am thinking of the theme of this book more as it relates to them and less to the US in general. I often think how well the skills I teach in my classroom prepare students for next year, for college and for life outside of education.

One part that I find interesting, important and concerning is the section when the authors talk about the future of jobs. In short it seems they see jobs in the future becoming secure for those who add value and unstable for those who can be replaced due to technology, globalization or downward economic trends. In the years my brothers and I spent working in retail (late 60’s to mid 2000’s) I saw this happening all the time. If you worked in a union supermarket in this area full time you could easily make forty to forty-five thousand dollars a year as a general clerk (cashier, stocking shelves, etc.) with full health benefits for you and your family. They gave you an extra thousand dollars to attend college. No real skills were needed, just be reasonably friendly and work reasonably hard. The companies at this time had solid profits and for about 20 or 30 years things were pretty good. People started out in the lower socioeconomic levels and moved into middle class. I know hundreds of kids who went to college on supermarket salaries. Looking back from today’s point of view it seems almost ridiculous. How could shareholders allow a company to pay that much more than they had to? They eventually wised up.

As time went on I saw many changes that allowed much more work to be done by fewer and fewer people. The one most easily recognized is the replacing of cashiers with the kiosks where customers check out their own groceries. I worked in stores that had these for about 5 years and they never really caught on. They were confusing, they were prone to malfunctioning and they allowed for easy shoplifting. I don’t think the companies saw the return they were expecting and now I know that some stores are replacing these machines with human cashiers. A happy ending? Not quite. These cashiers have nothing like the salary or benefits their predecessors had. Today you start at a lower rate, top out at a lower rate and pay for whatever benefits you want. Almost evry new hire is part time to help company flexibility. No hours are guaranteed. If business falls off, you get hours cut back, sometimes to 8 hours a week. Nobody is sending his or her kids to college on a “new” supermarket salary.

They discuss this polarization between those at the top and the rest of us in part II section 4 on creators and servers. If anyone has heard the NPR interviews with Bartett and Steele, the investigative reporters who used to write for the Inquirer, whose book I hope to read soon, they paint a very scary story in which the US middle class isn’t just shrinking, it’s being purposely destroyed by those who no longer see a need for it. In 1914 Henry Ford doubled the salary of his workers to 5 dollars a day, which went a long way in securing an American middle class. He stopped the turnover in his company and he enabled his own employees to be able to purchase his products. It was a win-win.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t happen today. The creators, those near the top with a seat on the board, no longer need a strong American middle class to buy their products. The middle classes in China, India and Brazil are a much more tempting and lucrative market. The potential profits in these countries far surpass that of our own. We are all servers who will mind the machine and be replaced by others who will work cheaper and expect less. As long as we have working class people who obsessively think that lower taxes are the key to their prosperity, those at the top will win.

So, do I try to get my students to be creative creators and not be merely routine servers or do I try to get them to rise up and overthrow the system? I think I know what choice the school board wants me to choose, and I doubt sticking it to the man will help us raise our PSSA scores. So, how to get them to be more innovative, more entrepreneurial, to add value to whatever they do, even if they do end up being a server? To be honest, I’m not sure, but I think there will be opportunities, in their research papers, our class discussions and the literature we analyze. Perhaps all that will be needed is for me to recognize the opportunities as they present themselves, and then to impress upon the students how critical this is to their future.